Tag Archives: Spinach

So things have been pretty quiet on the blog front recently, this has been because my life has been an academic blur in the past few months. My fourth and final year of University was spent predominately on the third floor of the library (often in the same seat, I’m a creature of routine) staring out of the window, I mean working very hard on my dissertation and exams. I was so excited to ‘get my life back’ after exams I hadn’t stopped to realise that I wouldn’t be getting my life back but starting a new one- something I am vastly unprepared for. So I’m going to cling on to my little blog as a token of my student life ( think of it as the same way Leonardo Dicaprio’s character in Inception has that spinning top to differentiate between dream world and real world- but much less cool) I have a back-log of recipes and posts to upload so apologies in advance for the plethora of emails the tens and tens of people who follow this blog are about to receive.

These muffin recipes come from Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s Guardian food page. Firstly, the guardian is an excellent recipe resource, in particular Hugh’s and Dan Lepard’s pages which contain many of the recipes from their books but free (post-student life I am still poor). These savour muffins are a great base for many flavour combinations and freeze so easily. Rather than use pre-made cake cases I just used squares of baking parchment paper (about 14cm square) which work a treat and look pretentiously rustic (a look I constantly strive for).

1) Heat the oven to 200C/400F/gas mark 6 and line a muffin tin with the parchment squares or muffin cases.

2) Place 10g of butter in a large frying pan and sauté the onion for about 10 minutes until soft, season well. Add the cumin, stir well, then add the spinach and stir until wilted. Leave to cool.

3) In a large bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and salt.

4) In a jug, whisk the melted butter, eggs and yoghurt.

5) Pour the wet ingredients over the flour and stir until just combined. Fold in the spinach and onion mixture, the carrots and then the toasted pumpkin seeds. Spoon into the cases, filling till about 3/4 full, and bake for about 18 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

1) Heat the oven to 200C/400F/gas mark 6 and line a muffin tin with the parchment squares or muffin cases.

2) Fry the bacon in a frying pan with the oil over a medium heat until crispy. Lift the bacon from the pan with a slotted spoon and drain on kitchen paper. In the same fat, sauté the onion until just softened then set aside to cool.

3)In a large bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and salt.

4)In a jug, whisk the eggs, butter and buttermilk, stir them into the flour mixture with a spatula until just combined, then fold in the cooled bacon, onion, and two-thirds of the cheese.

5)Spoon or scoop the mixture into the muffin tin, filling till about 3/4 full. Sprinkle on the rest of the cheese, and bake for about 18 minutes, until the tops are golden and a toothpick inserted into the centre of a muffin comes out clean.

It seems to be becoming a habit that I fail to document one day and have to make up for it on the next. Night nine consisted of a LOT of vegetarian food, a reappearance of pizza pittas and some home made fettuccine with spinach pesto, roasted tomatoes and chilli. But your imaginations will have to suffice as I have no pictures (and you can probably imagine a better looking meal than I can make, if I’m being honest) Moving on to Night Ten…

Night Ten.

Night ten followed a similar italian theme with Spinach and Ricotta Gnocchi. A quick and easy recipe for a lazy evening in watching Great British Bake Off. Unlike normal Gnocchi it contains no potato, which gives it a slightly looser texture and a less uniform look, but if the spinach gnocchi are kept small they’ll cook well and look reasonably neat (like tiny little dumplings).

Spinach & Ricotta Gnocchi.

Ingredients;

200g spinach leaves

handful of parsley

140g of ricotta

85g plain flour

50g feta cheese

2 medium eggs

Salt and Pepper to taste

Method

1) Place the spinach in a deep bowl, pour over boiling water and leave for two minutes to wilt, afterwards drain and using a tea towel or kitchen paper squeeze as much excess water out as possible. Then finely chop ( it will be one big mush)

2) In a bowl mix together the spinach, ricotta, chopped parsley, plain flour, feta cheese (crumbled into small pieces), beaten eggs and season to taste.

3) Fill a wide, shallow bowl with water, this will be to dip you hands into in order to form your gnocchi balls with ease. Take a small amount of the mixture and roll into a small ball, around 1cm in diameter. Place on a plate and refrigerate for 30 mins.

4) Bring a large pan of water to boil, once at boiling point turn the temperature down slightly. Cook the gnocchi in batches so they do not stick together (keep the cooked batched in a low oven to keep warm) The gnocchi will sink at first, once it floats to the top, give it one more minute to cook and remove from the water with a slotted spoon, ensuring to leave behind as much liquid as possible. Continue until all the batches are cooked. I served mine with a green salad, chilli mushrooms and a poached egg.